Fin (Irondad)

5

9 Years and 7 Weeks Ago

The duration of Anais' pregnancy was an anxious blur of pre-parental panic and doubt.

Countless times, Tony would crumble, be it in his lab when the thought crossed his mind, in a restaurant when the cries of a baby would pierce his eardrums, or in the middle of the night when he'd have yet another nightmare in which the babies, his babies, didn't make it or were targeted in some sick scheme. Countless times, Pepper would build him back up again, whispering soft but firm reassurances, rubbing circles on his back in a rhythmic pattern which he soon came to associate with safety.

From the moment Tony found out about the quads, everything felt so much more real, and he knew that if he was going to raise his sons properly he needed to make life-style changes.

First of all, his once completely silent phone was consistently left on full volume, always fully charged. If Tony Stark missed a single second of anything before his babies were even born he'd be damned. He wanted to be completely available at all times.

He actually began to sleep and eat on a regular schedule, a quality which the genius lost a long time ago. Pepper had made him read up on parenting, a series of articles and pamphlets which he wanted to ignore but eventually got the best of him. Every single author insisted that routine is essential with a newborn and Tony wasn't stupid, he understood that with four babies he was going to have to have some semblance of organisation. That had to start as soon as possible.

And then there was the alcohol. The moment he made the decision, it was gone. Hundreds of dollars of vintage wines and foreign gin were shipped off as gifts, tipped down the sink or dropped off on the Avenger's main communal floor. Tony Stark would be nothing like his father. His sons would never fear him.

Anais had told him as soon as the information was available that he was going to have four boys.

The gender didn't matter too much to Stark, nor Pepper, but the latter had mentioned her fear of having four tiny tonys running around. The genius was a lot to handle as one full grown adult, having four more with minimal reasoning skills and a ton more chaotic energy frightened her to no end. There was no doubt in hers or Tony's minds that they were soon to be eternally exhausted.

The decision to take the babies out of the city was one made fairly early on, both soon-to-be parents had reservations about raising children in the same city that they'd had to defend from aliens. They wanted to raise safe and happy children.

Within a few months, Stark's famously destroyed Malibu mansion was restored to all of it's former glory and more. All shadows of the twisted events which occurred with Maya Hansen and the Mandarin were replaced with floors and floors of polished marble and pristine glass. Jarvis was restored in the home and all rooms were fully equipped for the family's arrival.

Every single detail had been planned and put in order for the arrival of the quads, between Pepper's meticulous lists and Tony's efficiency in paying people to do things for him.. except one.

At 27 weeks, Tony got the call to let him know that Anais was having an emergency cesarean, and he still hadn't told the team. In his defence, it was completely intentional. He planned on telling everybody as late as possible so that he could drop the bombshell and skip town.

The first thing he did once hanging up the phone was ask Jarvis to alert Pepper and to ask her and the team (including Happy) to gather on the communal floor. 

Then, he focused on trying not to vomit with pre-parental panic.

When the elevator doors opened to allow him to enter the living room, everybody bar Pepper was there, staring straight at him. Mere seconds after he stepped into the room and rubbed his hands together awkwardly, his partner hurried through the door, carrying the hospital bag they'd prepared.